Friday, October 7, 2011

A Cooking Debacle and Grocery Update

Here's an update on my Grocery Challenge:

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On Thursday, Oct. 5, I spent $12.04 at Eleven Acres Farm. I bought tomatillos, anaheim peppers, and green bell peppers to make my own enchilada sauce (thanks to my friend Megan for this idea). I bought onions, two pie pumpkins (to make pumpkin butter), a buttercup squash, and an acorn squash. You know it's fall when winter squash becomes a consistent menu item. :o) Finally, I bought a box of Asian pears, which I haven't had since my junior year. When I was a junior, my roommate's family had orchards of apples, Asian pears, and more, so we were the recipients of boxes of fruit whenever her family visited.

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I realized after leaving Eleven Acres that I had just spent 1/5 of my budget. Yipes! Well, now I know how easy it is to spend money, even on healthy fruits and veggies. Fortunately, I should be set for a while now. I did buy $4.73 worth of raspberries, too, but I am putting those in a separate category, per the suggestion of my friend Lorry. Some of those jars will be reserved for Christmas gifts anyway. So, now you know the bald truth. I have $37.96 left to spend. Can it be done? Stay tuned.

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Now I'll turn to the story behind the title of this post. My mentor, Dottie Mohrlang, had come up with a great idea. For Whitworth's Homecoming this weekend, Dottie is hosting an alum who is getting an award, and Dottie wanted several female students to have dinner together and talk with this woman. Dottie offered to buy ingredients if I would make the main course, White Chili. I happily agreed. It seemed perfect. I would get to cook, but not have to pay for the ingredients.

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After a delightful Bible study this morning, which I'm doing with Janie Edwards and six other 2011 Whitworth grads, I set out to make the soup. I have so much experience with cooking that I wasn't worried about the soup at all. I just knew it would be good. When I got home, my housemate Katie was already making a big pot of Taco Soup, so the kitchen was crowded. I started my soup and after an hour had the whole thing simmering on the stove. I turned the temperature all the way up to heat the soup thoroughly and ran downstairs to make a few calls.

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When I came back up, the soup was bubbling furiously and the kitchen was filled with the acrid smell of smoke. No! I grabbed another pot and dumped the soup into it, thinking this would solve the problem. I immediately plunged the other pot into scalding water. Maybe I've saved it, I thought.

"What can I possibly do then? I'm supposed to meet a friend in half an hour, and I don't have ingredients to make another pot of soup. And these weren't even my ingredients! They're Dottie's!" I shot back, distressed.

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I went out to the porch, sat down hard in a lawn chair, and brooded. And reluctantly thought back to Bible Study this morning where we had talked about giving praise to God in the hard times. I tried to do it, but I was dismayed with myself for one primary reason: Dottie had given me these ingredients to steward, and I had failed.

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I called my mom and asked for sage words of advice. This too shall pass, she said. For goodness sake. Of course she's right (as usual). But I could smell the burnt soup from my room. I called Dottie immediately and confessed. Of course, Dottie took it in stride, especially when I told her of the happy and altogether gracious end to the story: Katie gave me her pot of taco soup. Later I got this text from Katie: "Elizabeth, we all burn stuff! Please take the taco soup. :)" I did.

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The evening turned out well. We had a delicious dinner and a delightful conversation. But the burnt soup did cause me to put my theological training into action. I was a poor steward of something that was entrusted to me. And rather than receive punishment from those who were wronged, I received grace. The only punishment came from my distressed and guilty state of mind. But accepting the gift of grace from Dottie and Katie gave me freedom, freedom to be forgiven and enjoy the God-orchestrated fact that Katie was making a soup that fit equally well with our side dishes of salad and cornbread. This experience can easily be translated to that of humanity and it's with this that I leave you. Praise God for his grace to humanity! Even when we fail to be good stewards, God's grace abounds.

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Nevertheless, a word to the wise. Don't leave your soup unattended on a hot burner. :o)

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About Me

I graduated from Whitworth University in Spokane, Washington, in May 2011. I'm now living in Spokane and working at Olive Tree Bible Software. This blog gives me a chance to write about how my Christian faith plays out in post-college life. I learned much in college, but I am still fallow, ready to support new growth. I hope this blog will capture what I learn in this new season of life.